8/1/13 - NYC Orientation Tour Day 2

Still flushed with the enthusiasm of showing Jenny and Richard ‘our NYC’ since we had arrived here a whole week before them….we set out today to cover the rest of the orientation tour. Walked across to Central Park (that’s eight blocks which is a good stretch of the legs for four people cramped in a one bedroom flat) to catch the bus outside the Guggenheim Museum. The winter landscape in the park is striking and I’m looking forward to taking the same shots in the spring and early summer to see the transformation that a little heat will bring to this special place.

 The uptown loop takes in the Columbus Circle and the Time Warner Centre, the Trump Tower (well one of five he now has in the city), the Lincoln Centre, the Dakota Apartments and Strawberry Fields, the American Museum of Natural History, the Upper West Side (which was the coolest place to live before Brooklyn took off), the Cathedral of St John the Divine, Riverside Church (now we were in the church capital of NYC - they were everywhere), Grant’s Tomb, then on to Harlem to see the Apollo Theatre (where greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Jackson 5, Patti LaBelle, Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin first performed at amateur night), the Mosque where Malcolm X used to pray and hold meetings, the Central Park Conservatory Gardens, the  Museum of the City of New York, El Museo del Barrio, the Smithsonian Museum of Design, the Jewish Museum, the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frick Collection , the Whitney Museum, the Central Park Zoo, the Apple Store and the Plaza (which is now apartments rather than the magnificent and romantic hotel from ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s). 

 We regained our strength over lunch at Angelo’s Diner behind the Plaza before catching the next bus for the tour of Brooklyn. As soon as we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge (the sun setting behind it made for some sensational photos) we loved the edginess of this place and we could see why Cameron who had been for the most part asleep during the day and out all night was often in the clubs and dive bars in this district.


           We took in the Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn Heights, the Promenade, the old Fulton Landing, the Atlantic Avenue middle-eastern restaurant and antique furniture district, Grand Army Plaza, the Brooklyn Public Library, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, Flatbush and Fulton Mall. Also saw Jay Z’s new concert venue and home stadium for his basketball team the ‘Brooklyn Nets’.  Peter successfully negotiated with the bus driver to let us out on the Brooklyn side of the bridge so that we could walk back across it and take some photos of Manhattan from the bridge. As we strolled across it and dodged the crazy bike riders travelling towards us on the narrow passageway, we agreed that we were keen to check out Brooklyn by night when the people who live here come out to play.

But we weren’t finished yet, so we grabbed a cab to Broadway and took our front row seats for ‘Jersey Boys’. The show was sensational with great singing and dancing by the cast (and they could act) and we found ourselves humming the seemingly endless number of hits Frankie Valli had in his day all the way home.

7/1/13 - NYC Orientation Tour Day 1

 

Huge day – huge day!

Today was blue skies as far as the eye could see so walked to the Rockefeller Centre to do the ‘Top of the Rock Experience’. As this is a popular place from which to photograph all of Manhattan and beyond, one is only allowed 15 mins at the viewing platforms. So we made the most of our time and snapped away happily before returning to the Rockefeller Centre foyer for the tour of the twenty six buildings that make up this complex.

 

The quality and magnitude of these buildings which includes the ‘Radio City Music Hall’ – home of the famed ‘Rockettes’ is amazing. And to think that it was all built during the Depression by the Rockefellers to ‘keep NY employed’ and the American economy afloat. The fittings and fixtures are still all original – brass and marble in most places and the lighting showcases the great workmanship of this time.

At the end of the tour we noticed that we had booked for the 1.00pm – 1.15pm viewing of the skyline so like all good Australian tourists we went up for a second time for free! By the time we came down the cranes had arrived to take down the Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree that fronts the famous ice skating rink. This tree was specially selected as it was 50 feet tall and 50 years old and was to celebrate the 50^th year that the Rockefellers had put up a tree for the people of NYC. She even survived hurricane Sandy and to many she became the mark of the resilience that New Yorkers have become famous for.

We then caught a bus to Times Square to collect the Grayline bus tour of NYC. We ended up purchasing a two day pass that would enable us to pick up all of the tours on offer in the city – the loops of south and north Manhattan and Brooklyn. As they provide a great orientation for newcomers we were keen to do all three.  

The tour south took in Times Square, Broadway, Macy’s, Madison Square Gardens, the Empire State Building, the flatiron building, Limelight Marketplace, Union Square, Ground Zero, Greenwich Village, Soho, Chinatown, Little Italy, Canal Street, City Hall, Brooklyn Bridge, One World Trade Centre (the official name for the Freedom Tower – good luck getting anyone to call it something else), Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Battery Park, South Street Seaport (many of the buildings/businesses here are still closed as a result of the damage from Hurricane Sandy), the Lower East Side, East Village, the United Nations building, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, the Rockefeller Centre, the Radio City Music Hall and Central Park. Needless to say our eyes were sore from taking in all of this or trying to catch the ‘money shot’ before we turned a corner. But at least we could feel our eyes – the rest of us was frozen as the temperature had hit -5 degrees as the sun set at 4.45pm. 

Now after seeing all of this you’d think we would have had enough but no - we then had a dinner at an ol’ English pub before setting off to the theatre to sing our way through the French Revolution with Hugh Jackman and the rest of the cast of Les Miserables.       

6/1/13 - Justin and Amanda Engaged

We spent the morning readying the flat for Jenny and Richard and attending to all of those things that one just has to do – washing, cleaning etc.

Cameron arrived home first, so we caught up with his adventures in Brooklyn. Then Jenny and Richard arrived at 5.30pm (right on time) having travelled all the way from Toronto where they had been spending time with Richard’s sisters over Christmas. We dressed up and set off for a local landmark restaurant, ‘Campagnolo’ on 73^rd and 1^st. We were a little nervous as to how the night would unfold as this restaurant has either really good or really bad reviews – seems the service and the food really polarises New Yorkers … but that’s New Yorkers for you … they never seem to agree about anything … so we made the booking anyway.   

As it turned out the whole night was wonderful. We were joined by my colleague Justin and partner Amanda who had just announced their engagement, so it was celebrations all round. We had the best table in the house, toasted the happy couple with champagne, sampled the antipasto before diving into the seafood appetiser platter (here in USA entrée is the name of the main meal – go figure). This was followed be a six pasta tasting plate. The others ordered ‘T-Bone for Two’ – which turned out to be so huge that even Peter and Cameron could barely finish one between them and by the time the vegetables arrived we were all full – very full indeed so no room for dessert!

Slept soundly.

5/1/12 - Russell Clan Reunion NYC Chapter

Arranged to meet Stephen, Kathy and their three kids for lunch in Greenwich Village and found them by chance, just walking along the street.  This was fortunate because, as it turns out, Google maps are sometimes one street out in NYC with the result that we were struggling to find the coffee shop that was our agreed meeting point. They took us back for lunch in the loft apartment that they were renting and this turned out to be a seriously cool abode. There’s lots of graffiti on the front (street level) door to the building and as you climb the stairs the carpets are old and dirty but once you step inside the apartment you find yourself in a an uber modern world of wood and steel décor with strategically placed objects de art like a mounted mountain goat’s head and a giant chalk board with a NYC landscape etched on it.

As the family had just come back from the markets, lunch was a sensational fresh pesto and pasta dish with potatoes, oodles of fresh parmesan and delicious sour dough breads. And the blue cheeses and crackers to nibble on in the kitchen while it was prepared before us were wonderful.  Yum! 

As the kids were at Brisbane Grammar School and Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School we had lots to talk about as many of the staff that I worked with at BGGS in the 1980s were still there. Hopefully Peter and I supplied them with enough gossip to return to school with in the New Year!

Left Greenwich Village and made our way back home to get ready for our first of many nights at the Met watching opera. Tonight’s opera ‘The Barber of Seville’ was the last of the family holiday series where the work is sung in English and the performance is targeted at children or those new to opera. Although it was an abridged and translated version of the original opera we still found it to be thoroughly enjoyable and a fantastic introduction to the architecture of the Lincoln Centre as a whole, and the Metropolitan Opera in particular.

            Despite being broadly familiar with the place as a result of our having attended many ‘simulcast’ performances of Met Operas at various movie theatres back in Perth, this was our first time actually inside the opera house and we were thrilled to finally see all of the architecture and décor that we had been watching on simulcast back in Australia for the last two years.
In keeping with the grandeur of what was promised on screen the Met in real life did not disappoint. It was sublime.

The marble staircases, the red carpet, the gold curtains and those beautiful snowflake chandeliers that were, as we later found out, a gift from the people of Austria as a mark of gratitude for the work of the USA during WWII.  We now can’t wait to see ‘Turandot’ next Thursday night.

4/1/13 - Membership Day

It was great to wake this morning and find Cameron in our flat. He had been out late watching the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs and will be with us for the next ten days … but he wasn’t that keen on chatting this morning , all he wanted to do was sleep! As Jen and Rich (Peter’s sister and her husband) should be here on Sunday it should be a fun time all round. I also have a message from Justin Brown (whom I work with at WC) and we are all going out together for Italian on Sunday night.

So with Cameron in hibernation, went to the gym again. It feels good to work out and stretch again. We have been in a lot of cars and planes over the past four weeks and it feels like we have changed shape as a result of the slumping of our spines. After a refreshing, sauna, spa and shower we set off for lunch at Bagel Bob’s.  (Note to self: Never order anything but a small coffee from now on at this restaurant …today I ordered a ‘medium’ and it was nearly ½ litre.) 

From Bagel Bob’s we walked up to the Guggenheim to purchase our memberships. This came with a ‘free’ copy of a coffee table book on the ‘Guggenheim Collection’ – Peter was so happy as now he has another book to read and this one has pictures just for me!  The ‘Picasso - Black and White’ exhibition is currently showing and looks great.  Must remember to take Jen and Rich. I amused myself by taking a panoramic photo of the inside of the gallery. I now have a flat photo of a round building!

Then onto the Metropolitan Museum for more membership signups and it was our lucky day! The Met shop had a 50% sale and as we signed on today we got a further 20% discount – oh the agony of leaving without something…...anything. I should have at least got the t-shirt or a tea towel or perhaps the Faberge egg place card holders in 9ct gold. 

Arrived home to find Cameron had made us dinner! So we ate our meal and heard all about his trip so far. Sounds like he’s had great fun spending time with his friends in the culture that is currently evolving in Brooklyn. Lots of music, art and alcohol.

Was in contact with my cousin Stephen Thurecht today and we will hopefully catch up with him, Kathy and the family tomorrow for brunch.

3/1/13 - Cameron Arrives

Despite the -6 degrees and in keeping with our New Year’s resolutions (because our clothes don’t fit anymore) we trotted off to the gym today. We had a chat with Ian, (one of the Personal Trainers Ian and the only rugby player in the gym) re our needs and assured him that, as seasoned gym bunnies, we could both just get straight into it. That was until we realised all of the weights were in pounds. We looked like complete amateurs. Peter kept setting a weight and then having to stop to readjust it, then readjust it again. And of course as well as the weights issue, I also picked the only the treadmill out of the thirty where the TV wasn’t working and spent the entire time pushing all of the buttons trying to get it to work. I can’t wait for tomorrow when we go for a swim…and we have to remember to swim anti-clockwise and keep on the right!! Ha! Ha!

On the walk home we stopped at ‘Bob’s Bagels’ and ordered some bagels with cream cheese and lox to go. Mmmm … mine was pumpernickel, Peter’s was with caraway seeds and as we hadn’t eaten breakfast we were hungry for them. But true to form Cameron and BK showed up just as we were about to eat and Peter ended up sitting there most forlorn as he watched his much anticipated second bagel disappear down the gullet of offspring No 1 and his friend.

It was great to hear of their wonderful adventures here in NYC. They’ve seen some sights, watched the Brooklyn Nets play and visited many cool bars and clubs. But the most amusing story was the reason they were all here in the first place – Barry Dry’s 25^th birthday party. As it turned out most of the 2005 Scotch College boys made it into town this week; that is except for Barry.  Because of visa issues Barry was unable to return to the USA and so the boys celebrated
his birthday in NYC in absentia! 

Cameron was off to see the New York Knicks play tonight – he really loves his basketball  - so we set up his bed in anticipation of another late night for him. We then spent the rest of the afternoon shopping downtown. First we collected our tickets for the Met Opera – ‘The Barber of Seville’ for Saturday night at the Lincoln Centre and surprise, surprise we jagged two seats to ‘Turandot’ for next Thursday night as well. Peter was very excited until he saw that I had wandered into the Met shop - oh my god was it terrific! They have, as well as the usual high class merchandise, the most amazing clothing and matching jewellery that can be worn to the opera. I must remember to ‘pop in’ again before Saturday night! We then set off for Macey’s to purchase some supplies for the house – not enough towels for our guests etc. So in the end what started
out to be a short expedition to collect some basics turned into the most wonderful stroll down 23 blocks from the Lincoln Centre through Times Square to Macey’s on Broadway. The night was cold but the Christmas lights and millions of watts of advertising warmed our hearts. We were right in the middle of the tourist part of town and we loved it.

Stopped off at the supermarket to collect some steak and vegetables – we felt like a home cooked meal tonight and it was great fun trying to find ways to cook in a flat where the owners obviously don’t cook much. Still trying hard to pick a bottle of wine here that tastes at least reasonable…...   

Things noticed today:
1.       American’s are inundated every minute of every day by food advertisements – it is overwhelming!  
2.       American tastebuds are changing to Mexican – could have something to do with the shift in first language Spanish speakers from the current 35% of the American population. In the next fifteen years it is predicted to increase to more than 50%.
3.       When it comes to dairy products, the guys in charge of milk must have fallen asleep at the marketing table as there is cheese on everything, absolutely everything and yet it is hard to find real milk anywhere. Everything has UHT or creamers.
4.       First prize, however, goes to the potato chip manufacturers who have managed to negotiate a deal with major food producers and food franchises that everything, even sandwiches, come with a ‘complimentary’ packet of chips.  

Hilary left hospital yesterday and is at home resting.

2/1/13 - Exploring our Neighbourhood

We planned our day with great efficiency and then took some time to work up the courage to step out into minus five degrees (Celsius)! But we needed to get some logistics done (ie bank, phone, gym, washing etc) so after a late breakfast we set out to orientate ourselves with regards to these essential utilities.

I was struck by the cleanliness and good order of things – clean curbs and people picking up after their dogs. Even the rubbish is neatly bagged and stacked. It was sad however to see all of the perfectly shaped Christmas tress now wrapped in plastic and tossed on the footpath; a shadow of their former glory of the previous week.

We had a successful day. We opened a bank account at Bank of America, put all our clothes in to be cleaned at the local laundromat, had a lunch at a typical NYC ‘diner’ (we know this because the waiter gave us a gob-full when we asked for real milk in the coffee – apparently they have a cow in the basement) got ourselves connected to the T-Mobile telephone network and joined the Asphalt Green Gym and Pool down on the corner of East 90^th and York. On the way home we stopped at the local deli and bought sushi for dinner.

Camo rang just after we got home. All his Perth mates are leaving NYC tomorrow so he is coming over in the afternoon to catch up with us and stash his bags before setting off for a weekend in Vegas with Brett (BK) Kelly and Mikey Botes. Looks like life is GOOOOD for others as well!